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| Tabletop Gaming Campaign Advice wanted; While we're waiting for the cards :P | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 9 2012, 01:20 AM (567 Views) | |
| Berger | Apr 9 2012, 01:20 AM Post #1 |
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Wooooooo!
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Since we're still waiting and not one person has responded to this yet i'm reposting it here ![]() After the big RPG thread in the PVW forums I wanted to see if anyone had any constructive criticism about the following. I'm going to be running a tabletop RPG in the following setting, Monte Cook's World of Darkness (MCWoD for short): long version: http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/13/13404.phtml Short version: The game is a d20 system reimagining of the White Wolf World of Darkness setting. In this new version the world was just as we know it today, until there was an event in the midwest that they call the "Intrusion". The Iconnu, unknowable beings of incredible power from beyond our reality, feed on realities. When they came to feed on our reality they failed – the collective mental strength of Awakened humans (the best humanity has to offer) blocked their assault. Instead, they managed to puncture a hole into our universe (called the Intrusion point) in the central United States which covers hundreds of miles. At the moment of the puncture an event called the Nightmare Wave spread across the world, changing things as it went. Magic came back to the world, and the Iconnu sent evil spirits and souls back into the world to causes destruction and slay the Awakened. THE PEOPLE: Mages are normal humans who learn magic Awakened are humans who don't do magic but get other preternatural powers Vampires are souls of the dead thrust into the body of a living person - either soul may end up dominant, or the two may blend. Werewolves are brutal spirits from another dimension that have been forced into the body of a living being. There is a dichotomy much like with Vampires, but the rage spirits are generally more powerful than the human spirits are. Demons are new evil chaotic spirits who form a body from whatever happens to be lying around, cloaking it in illusion so that they blend in with reality. THE INTRUSION: From the book:
![]() i am thinking the dresden files theory applies here: people KNOW these things exist... but to maintain their sanity, when their brains see it, they immediately try to rationalize it as a trick of the light or just their imagination, and therefore forget that the shit that goes bump in the night is actually real Humans kinda know what's going on, but pretend it isn't. Maybe they've subconciously convinced themselves it isn't happening. Nightmare Sites: I have some good ideas for nightmare sites, thanks to the nightmare wave. The example given in the book is that the Mall of America is a self-replenishing Zombie Apocalypse. But when the zombies pass through the doors outside they fall down stone dead, so it is self contained. I had an idea for a hospital where the sick and injured do not die, but their wounds will never heal inside that hospital, either. The sky is the limit with Nightmare Sites and the Nightmare Wave. My buddy gave me the idead for one where people never age but when they leave all that ime catches up to them - maybe not instantly, but within a few months. Another idea was one that gives some powers or abilities but at a cost TBD later A college where you lose 95% of what you learn each morning A haunted house where the only things that inhabit it are beings that YOU dreamed of -- that know YOU and your weaknesses and fears I had the idea for one that springs up at a local comic/gaming shop turning it into the entrance to Acererak's Tomb of Horrors, straight out of Gygax's module! The group is brought to the site when one of the team gets a frantic call from a family member/friend who is hysterical talking about traps and nearly dying before the call goes dead (Nightmare sites wreak havoc with cellular reception) So my players are all playing humans. One is a Bruce Wayne type Awakened, who goes vigilante super hero on the monsters. The other is a meteorologist who becomes a mage and uses lots of element based spells. I have another mage character that still is being developed and a fourth who is an ex-cop awakened... I'll be using some house rules I found online that buff up awakened a littkle bit to make them more like Hunters from Hunter: The Reckoning, rather than just humans who are sensative to heeby jeebies. I am surprised that they all picked humans and no one wanted to play a vampire or werewolf, but it gives the game a much more good vs evil slant than it would have otherwise.. When we briefly played the buffy/angel RPGs, the books suggested structuring the game like the seasons of the TV show and I thought that was a pretty clever idea, so that's what I'm doing here - Season one is "12 episodes" all connected but also seperate little adventures the characters will go on. So this is my outline for season one it's a google doc, so here's the link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16Jb7ZwW...u9qGNOlwsM/edit Season Two needs more work than season one does, but I need comments on both: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ArafYAR...Zg31QvQCag/edit Some random notes from conversations I've had so far: I'm skewing more towards a serious game than a light hearted comedic game here, probably a 7-8 on the scale of 1-10, but i need to leave wiggle room as well. Picky helped me come up with the idea of the Strike Team, and making them an important adversary for the heroes in season 2. Jeremy also mentioned a similar concept, wondering if it should be more or less serious, which led to me rating the campaign above. I was thinking of making the leader a Vampire who was a Security specialist in the modern day who's being inhabited by the soul of a full fledged Ninja from Feudal Japan. Picky, Jeremy, and Nathan also liked the idea of Stanhope's company as an evil conglomorate. Picky likened it to PENTEX from the OWoD, Jer likened it to Luthor Corp, and Nathan likened it to Wolfram and Hart, as well as mentioning that I should keep in mind that CEOs and executives rarely sit on the board of just one corporation. So moves could be made against the players that they don't realize are coming from Stanhope. So what am I looking for? Any ideas you might have to tighten up the campaign. Ideas for Nightmare sites, anything that could be fun and horror/suspense related. Ideas for Episodes/mission... basically any thoughts you come up with I would like to hear! |
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| CobiWann | Apr 9 2012, 08:46 AM Post #2 |
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The Drunken Icon
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Off the top of my head... An NPC who ripped their own tongue out to prevent them from spreading some horrible story that gives a being more power the more people who hear it. A mercenary team...that's working FOR the Innconu. The Sears Tower in Chicago...when you step inside, each time is a different year/era. It could be the 60's, it could be the 90's...it could be that the team stands on the land BEFORE Chicago was even founded. |
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| Yo Its X | Apr 9 2012, 01:40 PM Post #3 |
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Macktastic
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I'd make Wrigley Field a cursed area. Oh wait, it already is.
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| RedRajah | Apr 9 2012, 02:05 PM Post #4 |
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Shocked Woona is Shocked
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Chicago has some stockyard/notable meat packing areas, right? But just what sort of meat is getting butchered could be nasty... |
| And here's where I pretend to be a writer... | |
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| The DeWolfe Pack | Apr 9 2012, 04:04 PM Post #5 |
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The Luther Burger
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Seems like exactly the right terrain to do a Children of the Corn inspired story, which ends up in a small farming town on the edge of the Haunted Lands where people are being sacrificed to a fertility god. Have the produce that comes out of that area (corn is an obvious choice, but it could be soy, wheat, whatever) have some kind of odd effect on people who eat it, which is what draws your party to the area. Say it's being used in some kind of energy bars or new-agey health food, because it has more nutrients, but some small but non-trivial number of the people who eat it are going crazy and going into psychotic violent episodes. |
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| El Dandy | Apr 9 2012, 04:17 PM Post #6 |
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Is the She of the fight!
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To take this idea a step further. The blood of the sacrifices is what is used to "feed" the corn. People who eat it turn into wendigos. I don't mean sasquatch. The actual wendigo legend is people who resort to cannibalism gain the power from the person they ate and develop a craving to continue the practice of cannibalism. Hit up wikipedia and read about Ravenous the movie. |
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| Berger | Apr 9 2012, 05:08 PM Post #7 |
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Wooooooo!
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Thanks guys, glad to see some ideas! Liking all of these ideas so far, and especially the chicago ones cus that area needs the most fleshing out for Season Two. Cobi - that person could also start a killing spree by going after everyone who tells the story, so s/he cuts out the tounge of the people telling it as well, leaving them to die once the deed is done. I can plant a seed by having one of the PCs contacts talk about police investigating a murder where the victims tounge was cut out, but its beneath their notice cus its obviously not related at all to the intrusion. Katie - maybe a vampire's front for human trafficing of a whole different sort ![]() Jeff - Maybe due to dark magic the Cubs will finally win another world series :-D DeWolfe - Good Idea. could be the basis for part of season two, lots of threads could be woven into that one. If the cult leader is charasmatic/persuasive enough, many agents might not even realize they are working for him... El Dandy - See what I mean about threads being woven? good idea... maybe its not even on purpose. could be a horrible unforeseen consequence of the blood sacrifices for the fertility god... who of course doesn't really exist and is a demonic agent of the Iconnu posing as a god |
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| JeremyS | Apr 9 2012, 05:25 PM Post #8 |
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MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!
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A Literal Genie is always a fun story arc which plays on the temptation for easy power. It can either be an actual genie, a wish-granting object/location, or even a science/medical clinic offering procedures too good to be true! |
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| Berger | Apr 9 2012, 05:32 PM Post #9 |
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Wooooooo!
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could work. especially since the characters in this game world can't roll a lore check to realize that dealing with genies is tricky business, cus no one has ever actually dealt with a genie before. Although, with the nightmare wave, even a perfectly "worded" wish is bound to have some unforseen complications. |
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| El Dandy | Apr 9 2012, 10:29 PM Post #10 |
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Is the She of the fight!
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Another recommendation, write down some urban legends about the area after the whole nightmare wave. Jersey Devil, Mothman, that type of thing. Make up a few of those and wrap some BS into it, so it gives the players some idea of what they're facing, but gives them some false information they have to sift through as well. |
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| RedRajah | Apr 10 2012, 09:48 AM Post #11 |
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Shocked Woona is Shocked
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The goat that was denied into going to that Cubs game so long ago and who placed the curse on them was one of the 1000 young of Shub-Niggurath. |
| And here's where I pretend to be a writer... | |
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| crimsonjoe | Apr 10 2012, 10:19 AM Post #12 |
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The Luther Burger
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Some ideas: * The famed Chicago Fire was supposedly started by Mrs. O'Leary's cow. it wasn't- Mrs. O'Leary was drunk and forgot to put out the latern- but the cow was blamed. The team is called to investigate a series of arson, and the only evidence seems to be bovine-related... * Ships on Lake Michigan are getting attacked. The evidence shows primitive weapons, but almost no survivors. You know, Minnesota was settled by the vikings... * As the team faces more and more of the Innconu, they learn of one Alderman Richard T. Jones- he seems to have incredible sway over the various supernatural factions, playing them off one another, and no one dares cross him. But he has a dirty secret- he has no supernatural abilities whatsoever. He's getting by on complete guile, lies, and a few tricks. Should the various factions discover this, his enemies would eat him alive- possibly literally. |
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| DCGMoo | Apr 10 2012, 10:31 AM Post #13 |
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Disciple of Moo
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I knew we'd find a way to work Gibson Hayes into this eventually. |
| Working on new characters you didn't see a decade ago. Honest. | |
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| Yo Its X | Apr 10 2012, 05:16 PM Post #14 |
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Macktastic
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If you're using Chicago here's a few things to think about: Currently the city itself is about 3-4 million but when you add in the surburbs and Northwest Indiana it gets around 8 million plus. The City of Chicago hasn't had a Republican Mayor since the late 1920s. Chicago and surrounding Cook County are a democratic haven. The Daleys are the 1st family of Chicago. The father ran the city until he died in office. His sons Richard (22 years as Mayor) and Bill (member of Clinton & Obama White Houses) have been long time political players. Chicago has quite a few different highways including ones with tolls. But it also has a decent public transit system with subway (known as the EL for elevated), commuter trains, and buses. The city is anchored by its sports arenas: Wrigley (north side), US Cellular (southside), United Center (west side), and Soldiers Field (lakefront). The Sears Tower is now some other name. Most of us still call it the Sears though. The John Hanncock is the next tallest building. Used to be #3 in the world. Playboy still has it's hq here as it originated here. Lower Wacker drive was featured in the latest two batman movies. Not a place to be alone at night. The city has 3 major housing projects: Robert Taylor, Cabrienee Green, and Henry Horner Homes. I believe all but the Horner homes (by the United Center) are gone. Chicago is still very culturally diverse but still somewhat segregated. The results are pockets of sections of cultures for the polish, chinese, indian, italian, greek, etc. The Magnificent Mile is you high end city shopping. Millenium Park could be an interesting place for players to go. And the German UBoat on Display at the Science and Industry could be an amusing thing to use. Those are just a few pieces which could be helpful. |
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| Berger | Apr 10 2012, 08:03 PM Post #15 |
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Wooooooo!
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Thanks. I spent less than a day in Chi Town on the way back to PA from Wisconsin. We stopped at the Field Museum and then headed home, so the more details the better. there is a whole section on Chicago in the source book as well. |
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